# Solar World — world.solarleb.org

> Free worldwide solar energy production estimator. Click any building on the map to estimate rooftop solar panel potential.

## What this tool does

Solar World is a free, open web application that estimates how much electricity rooftop solar panels could produce on any building in the world. It uses NASA satellite irradiance data combined with building footprint geometry from OpenStreetMap to calculate:

- Daily, monthly, and yearly energy production (kWh)
- Peak sun hours for any location
- Financial savings estimates based on configurable energy prices
- System sizing recommendations (kW capacity)
- Return on investment (payback period)

## How it works

1. Navigate the map or search for any location worldwide
2. Zoom in to building level (zoom ≥ 16)
3. Click any building to select it
4. The tool calculates rooftop area from the building footprint
5. Solar irradiance data (from NASA POWER) is fetched for that location
6. Production estimates are computed based on panel tilt, orientation, and rooftop coverage

## Configurable parameters

- **Rooftop coverage**: Percentage of roof area usable for panels (default 70%)
- **Self-consumption**: Percentage of produced energy consumed on-site (default 80%)
- **Panel orientation (azimuth)**: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW
- **Panel tilt**: 0° to 90° (default 35°)
- **Energy price**: Cost per kWh in local currency
- **Panel cost**: Installation cost per kW of capacity
- **Inverter cost**: Inverter cost per kWh of storage

## Data sources

- **Solar irradiance**: NASA POWER (Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources) satellite data
- **Building footprints**: OpenStreetMap vector tiles via OpenFreeMap
- **Basemaps**: ESRI World Imagery (satellite), CARTO (street map)

## Technical details

- **URL**: https://world.solarleb.org
- **API endpoint**: POST /getSolarEstimate — accepts latitude, longitude, area, tilt, azimuth
- **Languages**: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic
- **No cookies**: Analytics via self-hosted Umami (cookieless, GDPR-compliant)
- **Open source**: Part of the solarleb.org project

## Related

- Main country portal (Lebanon): https://solarleb.org
- Contact: via solarleb.org

## Limitations

- Estimates assume unobstructed sunlight (no shading from trees or adjacent buildings)
- Building footprint area is an approximation from 2D map data
- Actual production depends on panel efficiency, local weather patterns, and installation quality
- Financial estimates depend on accurate energy pricing inputs